Poloncarz, Reynolds, Iannello ‘obstructionists’

Updated: 04/14/09 08:32 AM
By Robert J. McCarthy
NEWS POLITICAL REPORTER

Erie County Executive Chris Collins is aiming to defeat the Democratic comptroller and two Democratic legislators in this election year, painting them as “obstructionists” standing in the way of his “reform agenda.”

Collins even hints that he may use his own funds in an effort to take out County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz, as well as Legislators Robert B. Reynolds Jr. of Hamburg and Michele M. Iannello of Kenmore. “I am hopeful we will have a Legislature this time next year that will not fight reform but endorse reform,” he said. “I’m also hopeful we’ll have a comptroller candidate who will represent the taxpayers and not just be Chicken Little.”

As in his own election as county executive in 2007, Collins vows that none of the candidates he supports will lose because of a lack of funds.

“I am willing to help these people raise money and discuss the possibility of me helping them financially,” he said.

Already, the county executive has approached one high-profile Republican to possibly challenge Iannello. Kevin R. Hardwick, the Canisius College political science professor who hosts a weekly show about government and politics on WBEN Radio, said he has been approached by Collins about running this year and is interested, though not yet committed.

“It’s something under active consideration,” said Hardwick, a former City of

Tonawanda alderman who unsuccessfully ran as the Republican candidate in the same district in 2003.

Collins approaches his newest objective from a strong position. A number of sources with knowledge of the situation say his latest polling has returned stellar numbers, emboldening him to put his popularity on the line.

The county executive’s own fundraising also has proven extremely successful since taking office, and he previously showed that he is not afraid to use his substantial personal wealth to run for office. In 2007, he lent his campaign $350,000.

In addition, his supporters recognize that Collins posted overwhelming majorities in the targeted districts when he ran in 2007. Though the Democrats rule the Legislature with a 12-3 advantage, Republicans hope to gain some ground by picking off one or two seats in November.

“In those legislative districts where I won with 70 percent of the vote, those voters have said they want reform,” he said.

Together with Erie County Republican Chairman James P. Domagalski, Collins is approaching prospective candidates to oppose Poloncarz, Iannello and Reynolds, and the hit list also may include Democratic Legislator Kathy Konst of Lancaster.

“The logical progression of 2007 is to field a comptroller candidate and candidates for County Legislature in 2009 and pick up the reform message of Chris Collins,” Domagalski said.

Indeed, Domagalski followed the Collins model in recent elections. He recruited Chris Lee for Congress and Jane L. Corwin for the Assembly. Both stemmed from the private sector, were known in the community and had substantial personal wealth to devote to the campaign.

“We’re going to stick to that template,” Domagalski said. “The reason the Republican Party has been successful in Erie County, when it hasn’t been on the state level, is that we go with citizen legislators who have achieved something outside of politics.”

For Collins, the main target appears to be Poloncarz. The two tangled almost from the county executive’s arrival at the Rath County Office Building, most notably over the role of the state-appointed financial control board in county borrowing. Recently, Poloncarz refused to authorize the purchase of a refrigerator for Collins’ office, and Collins soon afterward banned two Poloncarz deputies from the Rath Building parking garage.

Collins said his problems with Poloncarz stem from his early days in office.

“I had a productive meeting with everyone but the comptroller,” he said. “He lectured me. I said to myself, ‘Here’s a guy with a big ego.’ ”

The county executive said he suspects political reasons for the Poloncarz opposition.

“I am totally befuddled by his blatant political stance at opposites with virtually everything I do,” Collins said. “He did an audit on a $6.57 freight charge.

“He’s looking to do anything he can to embarrass my administration,” he added, invoking the name of former County Comptroller Alfreda W. Slominski as a model occupant of the office.

Poloncarz responded by also praising Slominski and by insisting that he agrees with Collins in most matters. But he said he will continue to function as an “independent watchdog and not as a yes man.”

“If the county executive wants to put a target on me, he’s going to,” Poloncarz said. “We don’t have to agree on everything, but that means I’m doing my job.”

He said he will run on his record while avoiding Collins’ “petty games.”

Collins is also training his sights on Iannello and Reynolds — whom he calls “the big two” — in the Legislature.

The county executive said Iannello has consistently opposed him on key initiatives such as implementing his Six Sigma program for management efficiency and reallocating county office space. “If I say it’s Tuesday, she says it’s not,” Collins said.

Iannello did not return a phone call seeking comment, but she is considered a GOP target this year after losing last year’s Democratic primary for the State Senate.

Reynolds is in Collins’ cross hairs for failing to pass what the county executive calls his “litmus test”: Do your actions make it more or less likely that business will come here, people will live here and tourists will visit here?

“If you endorse the vision, how would an apprenticeship program that drives up costs of construction and increases taxes help?” Collins asked.

Reynolds said his district rejects efforts by the county executive to eliminate the Cornell Cooperative Extension or county soil- and water-conservation efforts.

“He raised taxes, and I was against it,” Reynolds said. “I’ll obviously put my record on the line.”

The legislator also said he is not intimidated by Collins’ ability to pump substantial sums of his own money into selected campaigns. “Some people who get into politics think they can control it by dropping money in it,” Reynolds said.

Collins said he can work with Buffalo Democrats such as Timothy M. Kennedy and Barbara Miller-Williams and will not oppose them. But political observers also point out that he has little chance of defeating such legislators in overwhelmingly Democratic districts.

The county executive said he does not believe that his headfirst dive into the 2009 political pool belies his 2007 campaign slogan: “Elect a chief executive, not a chief politician.”

“In the business world, you fire the incompetents who do not support your corporate vision,” Collins said.

“The voters elected me overwhelmingly to bring about reform, so I’m asking them to please support others like me. I don’t think it’s inconsistent.”